After Everything — Suellen Dainty

It's never too late to make amends.

They've been the best of friends for decades.

They've seen everything -- marriage, divorce, success, and bankruptcy.

They think that there are no more surprises, that they've learned all of life's lessons.

But they're wrong. They've only just begun.

Recently divorced and seeking to find herself, Penny moves to a picturesque town in France, happy to live alone -- that is until she meets an irresistible American philosophy professor. Meanwhile, handsome bachelor Peter falls head over heels for the first time in his life with curvaceous, sexy, and fiercely independent Frieda; Tim and Angie face challenges in their childless, co-dependent marriage; and Jeremy, twice divorced and the most successful of them all, struggles with a destructive addiction.

At the heart of the story is Sandy, Penny's ex-husband and once an acclaimed songwriter. He realizes too late that he's taken his wife and two children for granted. His life is in disarray until a close call prompts him to attempt a reconciliation with his son and daughter.

This quest takes him from London to the noisy swarming streets of an Indian hill town, where his children are living. But before he can make amends with them, Sandy has to confront a secret tragedy that has haunted him, and his relationships, for decades.

Wonderfully wise and deeply engaging, After Everything is about the frailties and joys of friendship and family and the struggle of learning how to live in a changing world. In this heartwarming novel about midlife coming-of-age, some relationships blossom, others fade, but all reveal the ambivalent nature of the ties that bind us to each other.